


Five Times Loki Had an Adventure (And Once He Stayed Home)

by wickedblackbird



Category: Thor (Movies), Thor - All Media Types
Genre: 5+1 Things, Adventure, Friendship, Gen, idiots doing idiotic things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-06
Updated: 2013-03-06
Packaged: 2017-12-04 11:46:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/710447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wickedblackbird/pseuds/wickedblackbird
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki laughed as he ran. Because no god of mischief gains that much notoriety sitting quietly in his room.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Times Loki Had an Adventure (And Once He Stayed Home)

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the following prompt:
> 
> It seems to be fanon that whenever Loki isn't hanging out with his brother, he's reading in his room alone. Now I love Loki being an intellectual, but that just brings me down. So I want to see Loki having a social life: Creating explosive magic experiments with Amora. Drunkenly debating the pro's and cons of Snarfelbarts ninth inverted law of magic with his fellow hipsters scholars. Causing mischief like a boss. Pushing the W3 to go realm hopping with him. Anything! 
> 
> Because no God of mischief gains that much animosity sitting quietly in his room.

5.

"Ha!" Loki whooped, smirking triumphantly at Sif. "Point to me!"

She growled at him, wiping a trickle of blood from the small cut on her arm.

"First blood," Fandral confirmed from the side, grinning. The grin slid from his face when Sif transferred her glare to him, and he turned away to feign a cough. Beside him, Volstagg let out a hearty laugh.

"Stay aware, young trickster!" he boomed merrily. "She shall be out for true blood now."

"Verily!" Loki called back, then had to throw himself backwards as Sif lunged towards him.

Their swords blazed in the sun, clashing and singing through the summer air. Each near disappeared in a flurry of movement as Loki and Sif danced around each other across the training ring. From the sides, the Warriors Three and Thor called out laughing jibes and suggestions, cheering each of the combatants on in turn.

Sif's sword came whistling just past Loki's cheek, and he turned quickly to the side to avoid it. It was close. Too close, he realized as Sif let out a victorious cry and used Loki's moment of distraction to score a small scratch across the side of the prince's neck.

A small cheer went up from their audience.

"And a point to the fair Lady Sif!" Thor cried.

Loki acknowledged this with a small bow, before sweeping his sword quickly towards Sif's torso. The lady warrior had a bare moment to block his strike, and they were off again. Their movements were difficult to track, both swift and sure as they parried back and forth. Both fought gracefully, and were very nearly evenly matched.

Though Sif often won their bouts, Loki began to gain the upper hand. With a final flourish, he swept her legs out from under her, catching each of her arms with his blade as she fell. Sif hit the ground hard.

"Second and third!" Fandral announced. "Victory to Loki!"

"Well fought, brother!" Thor said.

Loki, sweat soaked and out of breath, grinned. Then, leaned down to offer his hand to Sif. "Well fought, m'lady."

Sif glared at the offered hand for a moment, before offering a wide smile of her own. "Well fought," she agreed, clasping Loki's hand and allowing the prince to haul her back to her feet.

"A flagon of mead for the lady," Loki said as their companions joined them in the center of the ring.

"By Valhalla," said Volstagg good-naturedly, "I think we can manage mead for all of us."

\----

4.

Loki laughed as he ran. Behind him, he could hear the echoes of Freyja's shrieks as she saw her reflection and realized she had been dyed a vibrant purple. It would clash horribly with the rich copper-toned gown she had recently procured. Loki could not contain his mirth at the image of Freyja, still violet, in the feasting hall.

Lovelier than his mother, indeed.

Still, with Freyja screaming like that, it would not be long before Freyr was swift in pursuit of his sister's tormentor. And Freyr had never entirely forgiven Loki for an earlier incident with a snake and a bowl of mead. Discretion suddenly seeming very much the better part of valour, Loki quickened his pace.

A hand darted out and latched swiftly onto his wrist. Loki was pulled behind a curtain before he could react, and just in time - mere seconds after, Freyr and Tyr went storming by, clearly searching for him. Turning to offer thanks to his rescuer, Loki was stopped by a finger on his lips. Sigyn gave him a small smile, and squeezed his hand.

The two of them ran down the corridor away from Freyr, still holding hands.

They collapsed, laughing, beneath one of the rosebushes in his mother's garden. For a moment, they simply lay there, catching their breath and inhaling the soft, rich fragrance of the blooms just above their heads. Then, Sigyn rolled onto her stomach, and gave Loki a serious look.

"Why do you do such things?" she asked him. "Whatever shall your mother say?"

"Mother shall be stern with me," Loki said, folding his hands beneath his head. He cast a cheeky grin towards Sigyn. "But inside she shall be amused."

Sigyn huffed as though annoyed, but she knew his words to be true. She had a difficult time staying mad at the mischievous boy herself, though it was a problem only she and Frigga seemed to suffer. The other Aesir had little trouble at all growing angry over the pranks and tricks.

Still, the sight of the dainty Freyja coloured purple had been a brilliant one, and Sigyn giggled slightly over it as she flopped back into the warm-smelling grass.

"It was amusing," she allowed. "But you should not do such things."

"And yet, you helped me escape," Loki said.

A blush rose in Sigyn's cheeks. "I did."

He took her hand again, and she could hear in his voice that he was still smiling.

"You always have," Loki said. "I do like having you by my side, Sigyn."

"Then that's where I'll always be," she said, and the words hung in the air, heavy and important.

They stayed in the garden until well after dark, when Thor was sent to find them.

\----

3.

"This was perhaps not our finest hour," Loki said.

"Do shut up, brother," Thor growled, though any menace was undermined by the petulant glare and chattering teeth.

"But, truly - only you would bring Mjölnir on a hunt. And then, try to cross a frozen river with it!"

"Says the one who managed to lose our horses."

"Argued by the one who ruined our fire!"

The two brothers glared at each other, cold and miserable. Then, both started to laugh. They certainly made a pathetic sight as they camped in a shallow cave, huddled around the smoldering embers of a fire. A light snow was falling, and the forest outside was dark.

The hunting trip had been intended as a small rest from training and studies, a break from life as the princes of Asgard. Everything had gone wrong from the beginning. Provisions were forgotten or dropped, paths were buried under snow, the weather had been bitterly chill. Then, they had caught the trail of an elgr. They had tracked it carefully, and Thor had been the one to come up with the idea of leading it out onto the ice.

In retrospect, he should have listened to Loki's advice to leave Mjölnir with the horses. The hammer's weight cracked the ice beneath him. Loki's battle to pull him from the icy water had resulted in several downed trees, and their spooked mounts racing off into the forest.

Although, Thor had been the one to wring out his wet hair over the fire, dousing the warm flames.

And thus had they come to where they were - cold and wet in the cave.

"No," Thor admitted sheepishly. "Not our finest hour."

With a laugh, Loki gestured at the dying fire. The flames rose up again, crackling merrily, though they were slightly tinged green from the magic feeding them. Warmth immediately flooded the cave.

"Just so long as you admit we are both at fault, brother," he said.

"Verily."

After a pause, Thor added: "Though, when we share this tale with Sif, we say we defeated near a whole pack of wolves before losing our steeds."

Loki fervently agreed.

\----

2.

"Do not flail so much!" Loki hissed.

"Well, get me closer to the cask," Sif retorted, swinging her whole body once more.

The two of them were in Aegir's cellar. Loki was holding Sif by the ankles, perched on a rafter above the large cask of ale intended for the god's banquet that evening - a banquet both children were expressly not permitted to attend. In protest, they had decided to sabotage Aegir's renowned ale.

Hence how they had gotten to the situation they were in - ready to dump a mixture into the drink that would make the revelers all sick to their stomachs. Not a great amount (he had learned that subtlety was a good thing in pranks, since it made them less obviously his work), but enough to cause all of them discomfort. Hopefully they would attribute it to the ale.

Loki snickered under his breath at the idea that all of Asgard would blame the quality of Aegir's ale for sickness.

"Stop laughing!" Sif ordered. "Hold still, I'm almost there."

Somewhere beneath them, a door creaked open, and a voice called: "Sif! Sif, are you in here?"

Her mother. Both children froze, barely daring to breathe. They heard her footsteps echoing on the floor below, heard her call several more times sounding more and more annoyed. After a seeming eternity, the footsteps retreated and they heard the swing shut once more.

Huffing out identical sighs of relief, they relaxed. Then, carefully, Loki started to pull Sif back up onto the rafter. She shifted her weight, more than ready to be upright again. The blood had run into her head, and it was not a comfortable feeling.

"I said not to flail!" Loki exclaimed, feeling himself wobble precariously on his perch.

"I am not comfortable," Sif complained. "Hurry up!"

To punctuate her point, she wriggled again. With a small yelp of surprise, Loki slipped and both children went tumbling down. They landed in the cask of ale with a spectacular splash. It rocked in its stand at the unaccustomed force of their fall before crashing loudly to the floor. It caught the cask beside it, and the one beside that until not one remained standing. Ale poured across the floor in waves, and Sif and Loki went tumbling out of the cask in its wake.

They stared wide-eyed at the mess covering Aegir's previously pristine cellar, and then at each other.

"Run!" Loki said. Sif did not argue.

\----

1.

It was instinctive to send a burst of magic at the troll whose club was bashing heavily into Frandral's sword. Loki barely had time to register noticing that the warrior was in trouble before the club had burst into flames. Fandral took advantage of the beast's distraction to wrench his sword free and lop off the troll's head. He spared Loki a quick smile of gratitude, and then both dove back into the fray.

Loki ducked under the oncoming fist of another troll, shoving his own sword up into its belly. Putrid green blood spilled out over his hands, and he fought back the instinctive gag at the smell. There was no time to waste. They were surrounded, and it seemed as though more and more just kept coming.

Somewhere behind him, he could hear Thor's wrathful shouts and the thunder of Mjölnir crashing into their enemies. Of course his brother could never lead them on an easy quest. No, he had to lead them straight into the heart of a cave of trolls in pursuit of some unnamed treasure.

Still, Loki had to admit that the rewards were always well worth the struggles.

Two impressively large trolls were lumbering at him. Loki made a tugging motion at the ceiling, pulling down several boulders to crush the beasts before they could even reach him. Hopefully it would also serve to slow down any more who might be coming up that tunnel.

"Loki!" He heard Sif shout. "Behind you!"

And he brought his sword up just in time to save his own skull. It was close, and the force of the club striking steel jarred impressively down his arm. There was another boom from Mjölnir, and several trolls went flying back from the impact. One crashed into Loki's attacker, and both went down with a loud crunch.

After seeming hours, the battle slowed to a stop. The cave around them was littered with the hulking corpses of trolls, and the air was thick with the nauseating stench of their blood.

"Well," Volstagg boomed, panting slightly from exertion, "I am intrigued to see the treasure for which we have fought so fiercely."

"Indeed," Loki put in dryly, looking knowingly at Thor. "Do lead on, brother."

Thor gave them a slightly sheepish look. "I admit that I do not know precisely where it is." His jaw tightened in determination, his shoulders pulling back as he adopted a heroic stance. "However, I do not doubt that we shall find it. Onward, friends!"

Sif and Loki exchanged amused and exasperated glances as they fell into step behind Thor. Ahead of them, Volstagg and Fandral were already excitedly discussing just what the treasure would prove to be. 

"Assuming there is one to be found at all," Hogun pointed out. His logic was not met with great enthusiasm from his fellow adventurers.

"Surely it will be a great treasure!" Volstagg exclaimed. "Gold exquisitely wrought by the dwarves, or jewels that hold the light of them sun."

"Or perhaps some great thing of power," Fandral said. "The trolls seem to have fought in greater multitudes than ever."

"That could simply be that we have never travelled in their caves before," Loki said reasonably, and laughed at the surprised look on Fandral's face. Logic was perhaps not his strong suit.

Thor grinned at them. "Even if we do not find the treasure here," he said cheerfully, "there are many places left to explore. We shall not return home empty-handed!"

\----

+1.

Loki hissed through his teeth in pain as Sigyn carefully peeled the soiled bandages away from the wound on his side. Fibers from the bandages had stuck in the drying blood and been caught in the first stages of healing. Tugging them free opened the gash again, and Sigyn wiped away the fresh blood with a soft cloth.

"I am sorry," she said quietly, "but this needs cleaning."

He gave her a tight smile. "I am aware," he said. "Thank you."

The wound had been surprisingly deep, and was taking a frustrating amount of time to mend. The healers made all sorts of explanations of dragon's claws and venom slowing the healing process. All it meant to Loki was that he had been forced to watch Thor and the others ride out on a quest without him that morning. They would come back with new tales of glory and adventure, closer than ever from the shared triumph, and he felt a niggling jealousy in his chest. None of them had even mentioned that they were going.

"You really ought to be more careful," Sigyn's quiet voice broke into his thoughts. She finished securing the fresh bandage, and took his hands in hers. "You are strong, but not invincible. Do not make us mourn you over your pride."

"I doubt that anyone but you or Mother would even notice that I was gone," he said, still feeling bitter.

"Do not say such things," Sigyn said, looking pained. "You have a talent for causing trouble, yes, but many of us love you dearly. Even those who complain loudly." She tugged him to sit closer, nestling herself against his uninjured side. Automatically, Loki wrapped an arm around her shoulders, relishing the soft warmth and calm of her presence. They sat in quiet for several moments. 

Then, he let out a sigh. Perhaps she was right, but it often did not feel like it.

"None of that," Sigyn said, smiling. "You are too old to sulk over being left behind. They shall return soon. In the meantime, you are obliged to keep me company."

That brought out a smile on Loki's face as well. "I do believe I can manage that."

They spent the day quietly, sorting through sweet-smelling herbs and flowers that Sigyn would need for various poultices and remedies. Her interest in magic had diverged a great deal from Loki's over the centuries, and she was an impressive healer. He still knew enough to be helpful, and they passed a peaceful afternoon with gentle work and quiet conversation. It was wonderfully pleasant, and Loki felt more content than he had in the weeks since his injury.

In the early hours of twilight, there was a commotion in the hallway. Loki's door burst open to admit Thor, Sif, and the Warriors Three. All five of them were filthy and grinning.

"Brother!" Thor boomed enthusiastically. "We have been victorious this day! Behold!"

Sif's grin widened, and she held up a curved black claw, smooth and shiny as jet, nearly the length of her arm. "From the dragon," she announced. She offered it to Loki. "A trophy."

Surprised, he held out his hand to accept it. The claw was warm in his hand, and full of the echoes of flame and smoke. Loki stared at it for a long moment, then looked back to his brother and friends. They were all looking at him expectantly. He felt a wide smile bloom across his face.

"My thanks," he said. "It must have been difficult to obtain."

And then they were all talking at once, interrupting each other as the story of their battle with the dragon came tumbling out. Thor called for mead and for food, and their laughter rang long into the night.


End file.
